


Dirty Paws

by HaleHathNoFury (My_Trex_has_fleas)



Series: Nature Red In Tooth and Claw [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Origin Story, Cub!Derek, Fairytale elements, Fluffy as hell, Gen, Graphic descriptions of birth, Werewolf Culture, Witches, alternative universe, baby!Stiles, even if they grow up to be monsters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-15 09:27:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20863961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Trex_has_fleas/pseuds/HaleHathNoFury
Summary: Every fairytale starts with a beginning.





	1. Talia & Claudia

**Author's Note:**

> So a couple of people were onboard for more of this universe and tbh it's been stuck in my head so here is the story of how the boys came to be :)

Talia Hale is born under the Birthing Tree, like all Hales are. Her mother Mattie is the sister of the Hale alpha, Sebastian. She is the eldest of two cubs that Mattie and her mate will have and destined to be the next alpha. She claws her way from the amniotic sac and takes her first breath, the cold nose of her mother nudging her gently before a rough tongue starts to lave her wet fur. Her first memories are all sensory, the scent of her mother and the deep earthy smell of the den. She hears the sound of wind and rain and the storm that rages outside. It’s early October and fall is in the red leaves and the long golden evenings. 

Not far from the Hale house and the Birthing Tree, there is another clearing. This one is occupied by two women, one middle aged and one younger. She’s squatting over a piece of coated canvas, her floral housecoat unbuttoned to show her swollen belly and she strains as the child inside her fights to come out. Her daughter is born minutes later, and her mother holds the baby up to the shy and invokes the Old Ones to protect the next child born to the Gajos family. It is always like this, one grandmother, one mother and one child to carry on the line. 

Later the Gajos crone will meet the Hale alpha. Sebastian Hale is a broad shouldered dark haired man with a fierce pair of eyebrows. He’s of old Irish stock and his line of born wolves dates back all the way to the thirteenth century. Matilda Hale, or Mattie as she’s known to her family, is his only sister. The Hales tend to only have two or three cubs each. Hunters make it a necessity to keep their packs smaller than they used to, hiding from sight in small towns where they can keep to themselves and not draw attention. They were farmers, woodspeople and hunters in their own right but now they work from home. They are artists, lawyers and chartered accountants, anything that allows them to set their own hours and have little to do with the outside. Sebastian is a carpenter, making exquisite furniture that is commissioned by people who appreciate fine craftsmanship. His mate Cara helps out, staining and painting the wood. She also does murals and when Talia is grown she’ll follow in her footsteps and study art. 

Mattie is a linguist. Her specialty is the translation of dead languages and people send her things from all over the world to work on. She is fluent in Ancient Greek, Latin, Aramaic as well as Hebrew, Tamil and Sanskrit. Her Norse is pretty good too. In fact, if a magical text has been written in it, then she makes it her business to speak it. Later, she will teach these languages to her grandson and another unexpected person - a red-haired banshee who will eventually become part of Talia’s pack. 

Now though, she is a new mother and when she emerges from the den a week later, spending the time cleaning Talia and nursing her until her little belly is round with milk, her mate Killian will be waiting. He’s also shifted, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. His eyes are alight with curiosity and his scent oozes pride and happiness as he noses at his daughter. Mattie’s instincts take over and she growls a warning and Killian obeys, taking a step back and giving them room. 

Back at the house the rest of the pack are waiting, howling to the night in celebration. There is a massive bonfire out back. They go up onto the back porch and the pack scents their newest arrival. Talia finally has had enough and her whimpers spur Mattie to shift back and take her baby inside. She’s long healed from the birth and she takes Talia up to her and Killian’s room. There is a cradle already made, courtesy of Seb, and she swaddles Talia in a whisper soft blanket and puts her down. Her cub curls up in the nest and goes to sleep. Killian is up a moment later, coming to stand behind her, both hands on her belly as they look at their firstborn. 

‘She’s perfect.’ he murmurs into her still wet hair and Matties smiles. 

‘Yes, she is.’ she replies. 

-

On the other side of the preserve, Claudia Zuzanna Gajos is anointed with honey and blood by her grandmother. She is the closing of the circle, the new maiden to take Alicja’s place. She’s a Spark like her great-great grandmother was and it’s both a blessing and a curse. Sparks are not ordinary witches and when they come of age, they will drain the power from their birthgiver and kill them. Alicja knows this and accepts it and when Claudia turns thirteen, she knows her own life will be over. 

‘She’s strong.’ Hanna is inspecting her granddaughter with a critical eye. ‘We must teach her quickly.’

Alicja accepts her baby, looking at the thick dark hair and button nose. She loves her with a ferocity that is unmatched by anything she’s ever felt and she’s glad she chose an anonymous man to be her daughter’s father. He is also a witch but not one she knows, his coven based far away in New York. They only had sex once and the entire thing was orchestrated down to the very moment that conception would take place. It’s always been this way and while the town might whisper about the Gajos family and their sad losses (it’s easier to invent a dead spouse than anything else) they don’t pay too much attention. It helps that they can also ease the way with magic. 

Tomorrow Alicja will go and see Mattie Hale and they will drink tea and trade stories about birth and laugh over the fact that they both had their babies on the same night. While the Gajos witches and the Hale wolves have lived peacefully alongside each other, this is the first time something like this has happened and they will both take it as a sign. Alicja will lay Claudia in Talia’s cradle and the wolf cub will make happy snuffling noises and curl herself around the human infant protectively. From that moment on they will be connected in a way that defies magic. They will be confidants and conspirators and their friendship will endure even beyond the fates that are laid out for them.


	2. Derek

Derek is not planned. Talia had grand ideas about having a decent spread between her cubs, but one to many moonshines later and she found herself pregnant with her second when Laura was only two. Still he is much anticipated and the house is practically vibrating with excitement at the thought of a new cub. Peter’s love life is full of drama and inconsistency (the last one was a coyote and hadn’t that just set off their parents) so Talia is the one carrying the Hale standard as it were. 

Laura was an easy cub to carry and whelp and she expects much the same. Alan does the necessary scans and confirms that it is a strong healthy cub. They can tell it’s going to be a boy by scent but she will never get the same kind of confirmation as other mothers because while the early scans show an amorphous blob that is close enough to human, as he grows Derek will look more and more like the cub he is and less like the human he’s not. Explaining why it looks like she’s carrying a puppy is something that Talia never wants to have to do. 

It turns out that Derek is lethargic. He barely kicks and Alan chuckles when he examines her and declares that her cub is going to be a champion snoozer. He’s also bigger than Laura was, a little bruiser that Alan thinks is going to tip the scales at around eight to ten pounds. Talia sends up a silent word of gratitude that she’ll be shifted when her son emerges. Giving birth as a wolf is far more efficient and far less painful. 

Claudia is jealous, she can smell it and her and Claudia have the kind of relationship where Claudia tells her to her face that she hates her guts because Talia’s healing means she’ll never have a vagina that’s stretched out of shape. Talia laughs, one hand on her belly. Derek is growing quickly and he has a tendency to lie at awkward angles. She’s about four months in but she looks closer to term because werewolf gestation is speeded up by about three months compared to humans. She and Claudia joke a lot about how they’re pretty sure their babies were both conceived the same night after the dinner party at the Hale house when Peter brought out the special brew and they were all hammered by midnight. She and James hadn’t even made the bedroom, fucking on the stairs so Peter had to climb over them and make snarky remarks. Claudia had rung the next day, cackling because her and Noah ended up fucking on the kitchen counter. 

Two weeks later, they had both confirmed that they were pregnant and Claudia had told her about Sparks and what exactly this might mean. Talia had been floored, every part of her raging between anger and confusion but Claudia had been adamant that this was the way things were. Talia could appreciate that, knowing how most alphas get their power but it still hurt to know that they had so little time left. But then James had cornered her afterwards and let her cry in his arms before he reminded her that Claudia was the person in the world who was closest to her and that she needed to be the friend she’d always been.

So Talia had pulled her head out of her ass and now they were here, drinking iced tea on the Hale house porch (she can’t go out in public because...well, Derek) and talking about their babies’ futures. 

‘Will they be like us?’ she asks and Claudia smiles. 

‘They will.’ she replies. ‘Although yours is going to show up earlier.’ 

‘Mmmm.’ Talia strokes her belly and for once Derek is awake. His kick bounces off her palm and she closes her eyes and feels the fledgling pack bond. It’s delicate in a way Laura hadn’t been and she knows this little boy is going to be more like his father than he is like her. James is placid to the point of unconsciousness, although once he gets riled up he’s intimidating as hell. To her, he’s a gentle giant of a wolf. But to the omega that tried to attack her when she was twenty and he was home with her for the holidays, he was the wolf that ripped the omega’s head clean from his body and gave it to her as their first courting gift. He’s gentle and kind and makes her laugh and get out of her head and Talia hopes like hell that Derek will be just like him. 

\- 

Another two months pass and Talia is huge. Peter constantly teases her about needing to turn sideways to get through the door and she takes to spending most of her day shifted. James takes a sabbatical from his work and he and Seb spend a lot of time checking out baseball kit. They’ve already put up a basketball hoop for when Laura is old enough because James has ambitions that both of his kids are going to make the school varsity team. He also spends as much time with Laura as he can so she doesn’t feel left out. They talk about Derek and while she’s only two, she knows she’s getting another cub to play with. Her other cousins live with James’ pack down in Big Sur and she’s the only one they have for the moment and her excitement is palpable. 

November comes around and it’s cold and grey outside. Talia has been cranky all morning, slinking around the house as her contractions gain in strength. Late afternoon, she drags several blankets out the box on the back of the porch, the pack’s smell deeply embedded in the fleece, and takes them to the Birthing Tree. The oak is older than any other in the preserve, apart from the Nemeton and there’s a sizeable hollow under its roots where Talia makes a nest for herself. James comes to lie outside, whining softly as she circles and settles to wait out the labour. She can see his silvery snout resting on his paws just inside the entrance and his scent soothes her. She doesn’t want him to get too close so he keeps his distance. When she hears footsteps, Talia’s ears prick up and she knows the one person she does want there has arrived. 

‘Hey.’ Claudia has obviously shoved James out the way and she’s kneeling in the entrance to the den, grinning at Talia and holding a tupperware and a bottle of water and with a towel over her shoulder. ‘I brought snacks.’

She crawls into the den, her Spark senses meaning she can see in the dark almost as well as talia can, and sits cross-legged so Talia can put her head in her lap. Claudia hums lullabies and strokes her ears and Talia closes her eyes and lets herself fall into the whelping. The pain lifts her to a weird sense of zen-like calm and her flanks shudder as she starts to pant her way through the labour. It will take less time than a human but it’s still painful and she whines with the worst of the contractions. Claudia runs her fingers through her fur and feeds her water and sliced raw meat from the tupperware she has with her.

Hours later, Talia is ready. It’s dark and cold outside, but the den is warm with their combined body heat and Talia staggers to her feet and squats in anticipation. She follows her instincts and pushes while Claudia moves to kneel between her hind legs with the towel. The final push eases Derek out and into her waiting hands and Talia keeps standing until she delivers the afterbirth, turning to snap it up in her jaws and swallow it down before turning attention to her son, ignoring Claudia’s hilarious expression of disgust. Derek’s squirming on the towel, his shrill cries urging her to pay attention to him, and Talia starts licking him clean, taking the amniotic sac away and cleaning the fluid from his silky fur. He’s pure black with a tiny tuft of white on his chest and Talia is pleased. His colouring is darker than hers and Laura’s but he’s a Hale, no doubt about it. 

When she is satisfied, Talia lies back down and Claudia picks Derek up in confident hands and holds him to one of her nipples. In her wolf form she has more and he’ll alternate in the coming week so that she doesn’t get sore. His milk teeth will come in soon and if he’s anything like Laura he’ll be prone to nipping. For now though, he latches on and sucks for all he’s worth and they hear James chuckle from outside, clearly shifted back. 

‘Sounds like the kid likes his food.’ he remarks and Talia rolls her eyes, no mean feat in her wolf form. She’d tell him to fuck off if she was capable but she’s not so she settles for growling. 

‘Takes after his father.’ Claudia retorts and there’s more chuckling before they hear him shift back and trot off, assured that mother and cub are safe. 

Derek nurses for long enough that his tiny muzzle is soaked when milk when he finally starts to fall asleep, still latched on. Claudia snickers as she gently eases him off and lays him between Talia’s front paws so she can clean him. His belly is stretched tight as a drum and he’s snoring by the time she’s finished. 

‘He’s so cute.’ Claudia has that look on her face, the one she gets when she’s being overwhelmed by cuteness. She rests one hand on her belly, the bump barely visible under her plaid shirt. Talia nudges her hand with her nose and whines. They have some way to go before her son is born but she will be there when it happens. 

A week later, she is ready to come out. Derek’s eyes have opened and lost that milky blue newborn cast and are now a light green-hazel. As assumed, he’s a calm little soul that likes to be nuzzled and feeds as often as he can get away with. Talia indulges him and lovingly licks his fur into smooth streaks along his back. Derek is hefty, a stocky cub with the promise of height and strength in his limbs. He’ll be like James, tall and well-built although his colouring is hers. Only the eyes belong to his father. 

She gets up, shaking out her fur before getting a firm grip on Derek and lifting him off the ground. She pads out of the den to see James and Laura waiting for her. They’re in their human skins, dressed against the chilly wind. Derek doesn’t appreciate the weather at all and immediately starts squalling and Laura’s nose wrinkles as she scents her brother. Her eyes flash gold and she holds out her hands for him. James supervises the transfer and grins when Derek’s eyes flash back in recognition. It’s happened a couple of times in the den, but now he’s meeting his pack it will be more frequent. 

James steers Laura to the house and Talia trots at his side. Laura is very careful with her baby brother and he seems smitten by her if the way he’s burrowing into her winter jacket (green embroidered velvet with a white fur trimmed hood) is any indication. When they get to the house, the rest of the pack is waiting. Seb is presented with his new grandnephew and scents Derek, his eyes flashing red. He’s older now and getting ready to hand over to Talia. Mattie is next, smiling at her grandson with a besotted expression. Next is Peter and then Seb’s wife Cara and finally Killian. He’s every inch the proud grandfather, holding Derek up Lion King style and then yelping when Derek replies by peeing all over him. 

Peter, James and Laura all find this the pinnacle of humour. 

Then it’s back inside to have a long needed shower and sleep for what feels like at least forty-eight hours. Talia wakes to James sitting in the corner of their room in the armchair that is the most comfortable in the house, Derek draped over his arms. He’s singing to him and Talia smiles at the song choice. It’s something of a family tradition and everyone has their own version that they love best. This is the one they danced to at their wedding and Talia wonders which one her son will choose when it’s his time. 

That makes her think of Claudia and the baby she’s carrying. Witches and werewolves had long since held alliances but matings are rare, especially when the witch is a Spark. She’ll have to talk to Alan and see what he thinks, but something tells her that the new Stilinski is going to be very special and that her son is going to be the one that is bound to him in every way. 

‘Oh hi.’ James is smiling at her. His voice wakes Derek and his little tail wags when his eyes fix on her. He whines and James gets up, bringing him to Talia. She takes her son and Derek’s tongue darts out to lick at her mouth a few times before she cradles him securely to her chest and he settles back down. He’ll be shifted for at least a couple of months yet and she’ll feed him in wolf form. At least for now he doesn’t seem hungry and she can bury her nose in his fur and scent him to heart’s content.


	3. Stiles

Mieczysław Janusz Stilinski is born in a storm. It’s the seventh of April and the weather is so severe that it knocks out the electricity in three counties, takes down tree after tree and kills thirteen people and makes the news not just in Beacon but throughout the state because it’s so unseasonal. Some of the accident cases will be investigated by his own father and Noah will feel a shiver go down his spine whenever he thinks about it. Claudia calls it tribute. Noah doesn’t know what he would call it because he wasn’t born into the same world she was and he still clings desperately to his human ideas of normality. It’s hard to stay clear headed when you find out that the woman you married is a witch and a particularly powerful one at that. 

So when the clouds roll in out of a clear blue sky that spring day, he knows that there’s something going on. He’s been warned to stay well clear and Noah had volunteered for a double shift, knowing that Claudia wanted him far away from her when she gave birth. 

He doesn’t want to know why and he is pretty sure that he wouldn’t like the answer if she’d given it to him. So he runs from the cruiser to the station holding his jacket over his head as it begins to pour, the rain icy cold and stinging his skin where it hits. Inside, he stands at the window and thinks about what she’s doing while he watches the sky turn black and hears thunder approaching rapidly. 

He’s pretty sure he doesn’t want to know that either.

-

Claudia feels the first contraction just after lunchtime. It’s strong enough to wind her and she leans on the kitchen counter and breathes her way through it. Talia has given her plenty of warning about what to expect and Claudia is jealous that she can’t shift and give birth in the hollow under the old oak at the back of the Hale house on a bed of soft leaves like her best friend can. Then again, she doesn’t really fancy the idea of licking her baby clean either, so it’s an even break.

She waddles into the dining room, picking up the small backpack she has prepared. There are things she needs to do the necessary rituals before her son is born and some warm baby clothes and a blanket inside. From the fridge she retrieves a mason jar of foul smelling greed liquid that looks like swamp water and downs it before she leaves, grimacing at the taste. On the way to the car, she looks at the sky and sees the clouds starting to gather. It’s an auspicious sign, one that her son will be a Spark like her, and Claudia thanks the Furies that it will be so. She calls Talia on her way to the preserve and Talia promises to meet her at the designated spot. It’s the same one used by every Gajos witch that has lived in Beacon Hills since the 1800s and it will the one Claudia uses. 

The clearing is a good twenty minute hike from where she parks her car at the furthest end of the trail leading back to the service road she’s used to get in. Here Claudia shoulders her backpack and starts walking. She hears the sound of paws on grass soon enough and smiles, knowing she’s being watched over. Once she finally gets there, sweating and in pain because the contractions have started to appear with some regularity, she drops the damn backpack and swears as her son dances on her bladder. 

The sound of Talia behind her makes Claudia turn and the sight is enough to startle a laugh out of her. Talia is fully shifted and a small ball of black fluff dangles from her mouth. He’s making tiny whimpering noises and Claudia melts. Werewolf cubs are born fully shifted and only turn when they’re ready but Derek has been taking his sweet time. Laura shifted at three months but he’s just gone past six having been born the previous November, and there’s no sign that he’s going to shift into his human form anytime soon. 

‘Give him here.’ She holds out her arms and Talia trots over and drops him into Claudia’s hands. He blinks up at her sleepily with eyes that are a startling shade of green and yawns, little pink mouth and tiny needle fangs exposed as Claudia digs in the backpack for the blanket and swaddles him in it. Derek is a particularly phlegmatic cub. Very little bothers him and he snuggles into the blanket and goes to sleep immediately. Claudia lays him aside and turns to see Talia now shifted into her human form. 

‘He was fussing.’ she explains. ‘And I thought it would be nice if they could meet each other straight away.’ 

‘Mmmm.’ Claudia starts taking out the things from her backpack and lays them in a neat line. There’s herbs for healing and strength, another mason jar filled with honey and blood and a silver athame to cut the cord with. The afterbirth will be buried as an offering (and again Claudia is pleased that she doesn’t have to eat hers, although Talia seems to enjoy it. Derek had still been a small slimy bundle when she’d done it the last time before licking him clean so his jet black fur stuck up in all directions and Claudia had made exaggerated gagging noises at her, sticking out her tongue in disgust.) 

‘What can I do?’ Talia crouches down, perfectly comfortable in her nudity. All the wolves are and being able to shift between fur and skin often requires a clothes optional kind of lifestyle. There are other things too, things Claudia is yet to reveal to Noah although he does know about what Talia’s family is. There’s time and it will become a necessity if their baby turns out to be what Claudia suspects he is. She worries about Noah’s reaction, what he’ll say when confronted with the things the pack do as par for the course. They don’t let human morality interfere with their lives, the way they’ve done things since the first werewolf walked the forests. It’s the same for her and apart from indulging her love of building gingerbread houses, Claudia has kept her more arcane tastes under wraps and only lets her true nature out when she’s with the Hales and he’s not. 

‘Here.’ She hands over a jar of herbs. ‘Scatter this in a circle.’

‘It’s not bane is it?’ Talia eyes the jar suspiciously. 

‘No.’ Claudia snorts, then catches her breath as another contraction hits. Talia makes a sympathetic face and lays a hand on Claudia’s arm, black lines streaking up her veins as she drains the pain away. It’s one of the reasons she’s the one to be here. Werewolf anaesthetic is a marvellous thing. 

It passes and Talia scatters the herbs. They will keep the circle safe until the birth is done. It won’t be long now, the clouds are as thick as dirty cotton wool and the wind has picked up substantially. It’s started raining as well and Talia picks up Derek and the backpack and stows them safely under one of the trees. Claudia strips out of her clothes and hands them off, then gives the jar of blood and honey to Talia. The blood is human, a drifter that had come too close to Talia’s territory for comfort. He’d stank of violence and she’d had no trouble dispatching him when she ran across him. The honey is for life and the blood for death. The pack will be having him for dinner and once Claudia is done with the birth, she’ll join them. Peter has promised her pierogies and slow roasted meat rich with fruit and sweet gravy and her mouth waters as she thinks of them. 

The runes on her naked body are ancient, passed down from one Gajos witch to another before they die. Talia’s deft finger make short work of them and Claudia is ready. The rain is driving now and the thunder has started to echo right above them. The clearing is brightly illuminated as lightning strikes and Claudia doubles over in agony as the birth starts. Talia is right there, holding onto her arms and supporting her, taking as much of Claudia’s pain as she can. Claudia bears down, squatting to make the birth easier and her waters break, the hot fluid sluicing her feet. It smells like ozone and life and she throws her head back to the sky and screams for the goddesses of her kind to bless her son. Talia’s voice joins her, her howl piercing the sound of rain and thunder and Claudia can even hear Derek pitching in, his tiny reedy voice barely audible. 

Her son is crowning. She can feel it from the way her vagina tears, the pain bringing clarity to the magic that she offers up. It billows in blue flames around them, untouched by the rain, and Claudia pours her very soul into it. This boy will be strong and brave and full of every good thing she can offer. He will have a quicksilver mind and a kind generous heart but he will be ruthless when his loved ones are threatened and not afraid of doing what he has to to protect them. 

He will make a good witch.

Her son’s head slips free of her body and Claudia inhales a deep shuddering breath. Talia is murmuring comfort and urging her to push and she does. There is the coppery stink of blood and the smell of amniotic fluid mixed with dirt and rain and lighting and it goes right through her. Her son’s shoulder are next and it’s hard to keep her focus but Talia’s claws dig into her arms to bring her back to herself. Her friend’s eyes are crimson red and Claudia uses her magic to draw on Talia’s alpha power. It’s enough to help her bear down and she feels the little body slither from inside her and the relief is breathtaking. 

Talia eases her down and kneels between her legs, lifting the baby. He’s kicking at the rain and Talia wipes his face free of mucus and the thick caul that covers his eyes. She swings him by the heels to clear his airways and he starts crying, a lusty yowl that makes Claudia smile. He’s healthy and as strong as she’d hoped and she takes him from Talia and holds him close. 

Her little Mieczysław, the love of her body and magic. He will be everything to her until he takes her life and she will offer it freely when it is time. 

The rain abates, it’s job done, and Claudia wipes her sodden hair from her face. Talia has come back from the tree and she’s laughing, something cradled in her arms. 

‘It looks like someone decided it was time.’ she says and kneels down to show Claudia the baby in her arms. He’s bigger than her son, his hair a thick black pelt covering his little head and when he looks at her and mewls in protest because he’s getting wet, Claudia sees his green eyes that are so distinctive. 

‘Hello Derek.’ she says and tilts her arms to show him the child whose fate will be irretrievably entwined with his. ‘This is Mieczysław.’

Derek hiccoughs and blinks, small chubby fists waving around, and Claudia can see the way his tiny nostrils flare. His eyes flash once, wolf gold, and Talia growls proudly. 

‘He’s yours.’ she murmurs to her cub. ‘Yours to love and cherish and protect.’ 

Claudi looks at her, the woman closer to her than any sister could be and feels nothing but love. 

‘Thank you.’ she says and Talia leans in and kisses her forehead. 

‘You’re pack.’ she replies. ‘And so is he.’

-

Noah gets the call a little after midnight. He gets leave from the chief to go and he drives like a man possessed to the preserve and down the long winding drive to the Hale house. It’s all lit up (the Hales have no fixed schedule at all) and James Hale throws open the door when he gets to the porch. His broad face is wreathed in smiles and he claps a massive paw on Noah’s shoulder. Noah smiles maniacally, barely believing that he has a son and lets himself be led inside. The rest of the pack congratulate him, crowding him and pressing their faces to his cheek and neck. The first time it had happened, after Talia and Claudia had dropped the w-bomb on him, he’d been uncomfortable but Noah had grown into the natural tactile affection that the wolves give him. 

He finally makes it upstairs to the nursery. It is painted in soothing shades of green with a beautiful mural of wolves and fae and dryads all dancing through a wood. James had painted it for Laura’s birth as well as making the wooden cradle that stands in the corner. Claudia is sitting next to it, a hot pack at her back and dressed in sweats and a loose t-shirt. Talia is sitting at her feet, her dark head against Claudia’s knee and she’s making an odd purring sound as Claudia combs through her hair with her long slender fingers. 

They look at him at the same time and Noah gets that weird sensation that he always has around both of them. Their bond is so close that they are sometimes like one person and he hesitates until James gives him a gentle push in the direction of the cradle. 

‘Go meet your son.’ he says and Noah takes one tentative step after another until he’s looking down into the cradle. What he sees makes him laugh out loud and then slap a hand over his mouth. 

‘That was not my idea, I’ll have you know.’ Talia snorts. ‘You can thank Peter for that.’ 

Noah snickers again, taking in the child that can only be his that is dressed in a little red hooded onesie. 

‘Can I hold him?’ he asks and Claudia gives him her patented you’re an idiot so you’re lucky I love you look. 

‘You’re his father.’ she snarks and Noah prays to every deity that he can think of that their son won’t inherit her sarcasm. Two of them would be too much. He gently lifts the baby out and his son scrunches up his face and wriggles in Noah’s arms. He settles him and then looks at the other baby. This one is in a fluffy wolf onesie, complete with little ears and a tail. 

‘He’s going to hate you for that when he grows up.’ he says and Talia laughs. 

‘If he wakes up long enough to shred it.’ She smiles and gets up, picking up her own son and resting him against her shoulder. Derek yawns, showing teeny little fangs, and when his eyes open they flash at Noah. There’s a half hearted swipe with soft transparent claws and then Talia bounces him gently, the purring recommencing as she soothes him back to sleep. 

‘Dinner is ready.’ Peter hangs in the doorway. ‘Hi Noah. Congrats on the whelp.’

‘Thank you.’ Noah looks at his son. He has a button nose and scatters of dark marks across his face like someone has flicked liquid chocolate at him. ‘So did we saddle the poor kid with your dad’s moniker?’

‘We sure did.’ Claudia cackles and looks at Peter. ‘What’s for dinner?’

‘Roasted pork and spring vegetables.’ Peter replies with a wink and a grin and Noah’s stomach rumbles. He has to give it to him. Peter Hale is one of the oddest people he’s ever met, but he is also one hell of a cook. 

He places Mieczysław back in the cradle and Talia does the same. Derek immediately curls up around his newborn son and Noah feels a tug at his heartstrings when he sees that. Claudia has explained that because they are so close in age, Derek and Mieczysław will be bonded in much the same way she and Talia are and he’s glad to know that his son will have a friendship like that in his future. 

-

Years later, when Noah catches said son blowing Derek in the front of the Camaro in Lover’s Lane he’ll wonder why he never anticipated that, just maybe, friendship would lead to something else. He’ll haul them out the car, inwardly chuckling at the look of mortified horror on Derek’s face (Stiles has absolutely no sense of shame or decorum and he’ll be grinning like the proverbial cat who got the cream). He’ll curse them out and threaten them with juvenile court and Derek will drop his head and whine in remorse. 

Stiles, on the other hand, will say nothing that night. The next day he’ll curse every single donut shop in town so that every time Noah sneaks one and bites into it, he finds worms in the filling. 

His son is a little shit. 

Still, when Noah watches them meet up outside the house and sees the shy way Derek takes his son’s hand and fawns all over him like a lovesick idiot he feels the same sense of gratitude he had the night Stiles was born that he would have someone who loved him so much and who would always be there for him. 

‘Look at that, Claude.’ he’ll say. ‘Looks like it was meant to be.’

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of notes:
> 
> The Hale consists of the alpha, Sebastian Hale and his mate Cara. They are Talia's aunt and uncle. Her mother Mathilda 'Mattie' Hale is Sebastian's sister and she is mated to Killian Hale. Claudia's mother is Alicja Gajos and her father in unknown. Her grandmother is Hanna Gajos and all together they form the Gajos coven and represent crone, mother and maiden. 
> 
> In this verse, witches and werewolves often form alliances. Claudia and Talia are best friends and have been since birth. Claudia is a Spark, a rare kind of witch whose magical power in tied up with her lifeforce in a way that means she is magic rather than she works magic. Witches are very matriarchal and often kill any children who are male. Male Sparks are practically unheard of. When a Spark comes of age (usually 13) they come into their full powers by draining the lifeforce from the one that gave it. Talia is still a beta at this point but Seb is older and when he reaches his sixtieth moon, he must fight the prospective alpha for control of the pack. The usual practice is for the alpha to kill to gain their power but Talia will not be doing this, although it will be mentioned in other packs.


End file.
